On-Site vs Warehouse Based Shredding – The Security Difference

When it comes to shredding, there are a lot of different options out there for you. Sometimes that can seem a bit confusing, and it can be difficult to work out what is best for your business. So today we’re here to help. There are essentially 2 different options available to you – on-site shredding, and warehouse or ‘plant’ based shredding, and choosing the right one is important for the security of your confidential data. But what are the differences, and what does your choice mean for your business?

What Is On-Site Shredding?

The important thing to remember here is that on-site shredding is not the same as in-house shredding. With in-house shredding, you are handling the job alone, probably with nothing more than a shop bought cross-cut shredder and employees who are not trained in how to handle confidential information properly. By contrast, on-site shredding is provided by an external professional data destruction service, on your premises. So even though the documents don’t leave your business location, it’s not your employees who are handling the process. Rather, the professionals are handling all of the shredding related tasks to ensure that the procedures utilised are proven to be completely secure. All materials designated to be shredded will be destroyed before the shredding company’s lorry leaves your location, providing you with peace of mind and ultimate security.

How Does It Work?

Your business prepares for on-site shredding by separating out all of the paperwork you are looking to shred. This is usually done using a secure shredding sack or unit, like this one. From there, there are two types of on-site shredding – one off and an ongoing service. The first is what you would expect – the shredding company comes once and shreds all of your designated material. With ongoing shredding, the company will come to your premises on a regular basis to shred any confidential material you’ve built up during that time. This is particularly popular for solicitors and other businesses that deal in high volumes of confidential paperwork. The load is then fed into the shredding company’s mobile shredding lorry, and you are provided with a certificate of destruction, which you can use to prove that you have met your obligations.

Pro’s And Con’s

Pros:

Documents don’t leave your premises, ensuring complete security.

Significantly reduces employee time spent on shredding.

An ongoing service means that confidential data won’t build up

It’s a quick process

Cons:

It can be more expensive than warehouse based shredding.

What About Warehouse Shredding?

Warehouse or ‘off-site’ shredding is another form of outsourced shredding solution, but the shredding is taken to a warehouse, instead of the warehouse coming to the office. Instead, a designated employee will bring the shredding sacks to the shredding company’s warehouse, where they will be processed. Swing-shift employees at the facility typically sort the material to be shredded on conveyor belts and then the material is shredded by a plant-based shredder. The shred size generated by plant-based shredders is typically similar to what is generated by on-site shredding.

How Does It Work?

This option is even simpler than on-site shredding in some ways. Your business will store any documents that require secure destruction into a secure unit or sack until it is full. At that point, someone from the business will bring those documents to the shredding centre, or a courier will be arranged to collect them. The documents are then shredded using warehouse based shredding machines, and a certificate of destruction sent back to the business as confirmation that the service has been completed.

Pro’s And Con’s

Pros:

It doesn’t pull your employees away from their duties for very long.

You will not have to find a lot of storage space for obsolete material.

It can be less expensive than on-site shredding.

Cons:

Your documents travel away from your business location, increasing the risk of loss or theft.

Your documents could sit for hours or even days in a warehouse before the job is completed.

Documents will pass through several hands before being shredded, increasing risk.

At Hungry Shredder, we specialise in making paperwork destruction as painless as possible for your business. Our secure shredding service mean that collecting data (and keeping it safe during the process) has never been simpler and will be easy to adopt throughout the company. We operate on both an on-site and a warehouse model, so you can chose the right shredding solution for your and your business. For more information, just get in touch with us today.